Car Rental.
A car rental agency or a car rental company allows a person to rent a car for a specific duration of time, this may be for a certain no of hours, days or even months. The rental company in return charges ascertained amount depending upon the duration for which the car is rented, the car is chosen, etc. The car rental business may not seem to be a huge business in India as it is dominated by a number of small agencies providing chauffeur driven cars at nominal charges and lack of credit card users plus more preference to chauffeur driven cars as opposed to self-driven vehicles. Although Multinational car rental companies do not have a huge presence in India internationally the car rental business has a massive market and is one of the important components of travel especially for corporate travel.
There are a number of car rental companies world over but below are some of the most famous car rental companies, you will find Hertz, Avis, and budget probably at most of the airports across the globe.
How does the car rental works?
Reservation
Booking a car rental is pretty much simple you can either call up the car rental service or get a reservation booked or you can make a reservation online on their website or an agent can also book a car rental on a GDS. For making a reservation all you need is name of the person who would be renting out the car and a valid driver’s license, currently a car rental can be rented by anyone preferably over 25 years of age holding a valid driver’s license (or a international drivers license) a credit card may be required by certain rental car company especially in remote areas where the car rental company will use the card for guarantee purposes. What that means is the car rental company won’t be charging your card immediately but they will take down your card no and expiration date and the name of the card. Please note most of the car rentals do not have a free cancellation policy but certain locations will charge a cancellation fee if you do not show up. Hence it is recommended to cancel a reservation in case there is a change in plan.
Choosing a Car
You can choose a car while booking itself depending upon your requirement and budget. A car rental company offers multiple choices from economical cars to premium cars to SUV’s. You can choose a car depending upon the number of people travelling, the terrain you would be enccountering, etc. For eg :- If you are visiting a site which is in the hills a SUV would be ideal, similarly if you are travelling alone a compact car would be ideal.
Below are types of Car.
Economy Car(ECAR) –Up to 4 passengers 2 bags
Compact Car(CCAR)—Up to 4 passengers 1 bag.(check in)
Intermediate Car(ICAR)-Up to 5 passengers 1 bag.
Standard Car (SCAR)—Up to 5 passengers 2 Bags.
Full size Car(FCAR)—Up to 5 Passengers 2 bags.
Luxury car (LCAR)—Up to 5 passengers 2 bags.
A travel agent or a GDS system determines a car type by following a code system as below.
Picking up the car.
Once the reservation is made the car renter or traveller can pick up the car rental from the car rental location. Most of the corporate travellers would pick up a car rental from a airport location once they arrive at the airport. The renter has to show his Driver’s license and credit card to the car rental agency and sign a renter agreement post which the renter is handed over the keys to the car booked. The renter has to bring back the car as per agreement to the same location where he has picked up the car from. Incase the car is dropped to a different location of the same car rental company the car rental company would levy a drop fee to the final bill.
Advantages of Car Rental.
1)Car rental saves time and costs of travel for travellers as the car can be utilized for travel within the city limits to multiple locations and reduces a considerable amount of time as the traveller does not have to wait for cabs or public transport.
2)Most of the cars nowadays come equipped with a GPS this helps the travellers to navigate easily within the city or from once city to another city.
3)The payments are low compared to a chauffeur driven vehicles or limo cars.
4)Can explore more locations when you have a vehicle at your disposal. You don’t have to reply to or comply with schedules of public transport.
5)If there are a multiple people travelling it would be cost effective to get a car rental. For Eg:- If there are 4 travellers travelling for a same project it would be ideal to get a car rental which would save a considerable amount of costs on travel.
Disadvantages of Car rental
1)In public transportation, there is less risk of an accident, technical failure or breakdown than in a car.
2)There is traffic congestion on the busiest routes due to the large number of cars.
3)If there were problems with the bodywork and even the inner, the car rental company may charge a penalty for car repairs.
4) If a city has an efficient public transportation system it would be advisable to use the same.
Loyalty Programs.
Apart from advantages specified earlier to gain an advantage in the market the car rental companies also operate loyalty programs for their customers. The car Loyalty programs offer customers advantages like faster pick up, discounts, the preferred choice of cars, etc.
Below are Car rental programs operated by major car rental companies.
Hertz-Hertz Gold plus Rewards.
Budget-Fastbreak
National-Emerald Club
Dollar-Dollar Express
Enterprise-Enterprise plus
Thrifty-Blue Chip Rewards
Alamo-Alamo Insiders
Europcar-Privilege
Limousine service or Town car :- A limousine service or a Town car is a service provided by a agency in a luxurious car and is a chauffeured service unlike a car rental. The limousine service doesn’t necessarily mean a stretch limo but rather is a luxurious car with a well dressed chauffer who would pick up a traveller from point A and drop to point B. This type of service would generally cost more than hiring a car rental. A limo or Town car is generally hired by corporate companies for its management employees or clients. The cars used by a Limo service agency is a luxurious car like a Cadillac, Mercedes, Maybach, etc with more space and comfortable seating. This type of car service is more prevalent in the US and the price for such service in the US would generally range between $ 50- $ 150 for short distances and may vary depending upon distance and from state to state.
Airline chauffer service :- As a add on service for its First and Business class travellers certain airlines do offer chauffer driven vehicles for pick up and drop off. This type of service is free of cost and is a complimentary service for travellers who have purchased a First or business class ticket. As of now below are some major airlines which offer this service however this service may be limited to certain cities and usually offer pick up and drop off within a specified radius. Please note this services have to be booked at least 48hrs prior to departure or as per policy specified by the airline.
Below are airlines which offer free Chauffer Service for its First and Business class travellers.
Coach Services
A coach service or commonly referred to as bus service is one of the most widely used form of transportation. Though both of them may seem to be the same however both of them are distinct from each other a bus service refers to a service within a suburban area for a local commute whereas a coach service operates on an intercity level from one city to another. In every city, you will come across various Bus services which are operated by Private agencies as well as the local authorities like state transportation boards. A coach service may not seem like a comfortable commute however this has changed drastically in today’s world. Even big Multinational companies prefer this option for shorter routes for their employees as it saves considerable cost as opposed to renting a one way car which would cost a lot more for a to and fro commute. Most of the tour companies operating within mainland Europe use coaches as the primary form of transportation for touring as this saves them a considerable amount of time and money as coaches offer flexibility in terms of stops, time and reach. Coaches can take a stop as required and can reach directly to the destination unlike trains which drop you at respective stations. Owing to development in the automobile industry more and more comfortable coaches are being introduced with air-conditioning, comfortable seating, recliners, massagers, toilets and even WiFi. Besides all this advantages the coach transport is very cheap as compared to train transport or hiring a car rental when travelling from one city to another hence most tour companies prefer coaches on tours to Europe and North America.
The major coach companies in operating within US, Mexico and Canada are Greyhound and Trailways. These two coach companies cover most of the US, Mexico and Canada through their extensive network. Nowadays you can also buy tickets online, for foreign tourists there are various passes available depending upon duration for eg:- The Ameripass which is offered by Greyhound for foreign nationals visiting the US. Greyhound currently also operates coaches in Australia.
Eurolines is the biggest coach company operating across the Europe in over 36 countries. Due to ease in visa regulations across Europe this bus service not only operates from one city to another but also operates from one country to another country. This is one of the best options for touring Europe especially for visiting country side or remote places or travelling on a budget.
Unlike Europe and America, the Asian market is dominated by small coach operators which run intercity and interstate bus services. In India, there is no specific bus service which can be recommended owing to multiple options available. However, coaches are the cheapest form of transport but one has to be aware the quality of coaches may not be similar to what is found in Europe or America. There are state run Coach services offered by MSRTC, KSRTC,etc however this aren’t exactly comfortable unless you opt for luxurious coaches. But you can always go to websites like Redubs. This website will provide you with multiple options through various private coach operators operating in India.
We hope this information on car rental, coach reservations has helped you to clear doubts on car rental reservations.If you have any further doubts do write in to us or leave a comment below.